The present invention relates to a recording medium library apparatus constructed by combining a plurality of units including a housing unit for housing recording media and a method of operating the apparatus.
There has long been a system which houses a plurality of recording media (cassette tapes or disk-shaped recording media, for example) loadable/unloadable to/from a recording and reproducing apparatus and records various information onto the housed recording media and reproduces the recorded information as necessary. Such a system is called a library system, auto-changer, or the like. In the following description, it will be called a library system.
Some library systems have predetermined compositions. Other library systems have compositions which can be adapted to a certain degree to suit the user. An example of the latter library systems has a plurality of consoles connected to one another so as to be able to change the position thereof. The consoles are combined freely to form library systems of various sizes and arrangements. Examples of the consoles are a console for recording and reproduction and a console for housing recording media. A console for recording and reproduction has a recording and reproducing apparatus which records and reproduces information onto/from a recording medium. A console for housing recording media has a plurality of housing sections, each capable of housing a recording medium. Some consoles for recording and reproduction further comprise a plurality of housing sections, each capable of housing a recording medium. Moreover, the latter library system comprises a carrier apparatus and a control unit. The carrier apparatus carries a recording medium between any one of the housing sections and the recording and reproducing apparatus. The control unit controls the recording and reproducing apparatus and the carrier apparatus.
A library system may display an image of the composition of the system and the status of each part of the system on a display device attached to the control unit. In this case, for easy interpretation by the user, a possible method is to display an image which closely represents the actual arrangement of consoles.
When displaying such an image, in the case of the former library system, it is possible to prepare main parts of the image in advance. This preparation, however, is not possible in the case of the latter library system, which leads to the conclusion that it is difficult to display such an image on the latter library system.
Also, the system management of a library system may require management information on each of a plurality of blocks classified according to functions or components of the system. Among such management information are version information of a recording and reproducing apparatus or other apparatuses as components of the system, and version information of software and firmware which provides a program to realize the function of controlling the system. In a conventional library system, such management information has to be obtained item by item. For example, management information has to be checked block by block, written down in longhand. This is a cumbersome task and likely to cause errors in obtaining management information.
Moreover, when a failure occurs in the system, it is necessary to analyze the failure through analyzing the past operation progression information (log) on the system. The analysis may require management information such as the version of each block, but it is often impossible to obtain sufficient and accurate management information for the above-mentioned reason. In consequence, it takes a very long time to analyze the failure.
The invention has been achieved in consideration of the above-described problems. It is an object of the invention to provide a recording medium library apparatus which is configured by combining a plurality of units and can readily output information on the composition of the apparatus itself and a method of operating the recording medium library apparatus.
Another object of the invention is to provide a recording medium library apparatus capable of readily obtaining a plurality of items of management information on such a recording medium library apparatus in an integrated manner and a method of operating the recording medium library apparatus.
A recording medium library apparatus according to the invention comprises: a unit combination constituted by combining a plurality of kinds of units including a unit having recording and reproducing means for performing at least either recording or reproduction of information by using a removable recording medium and a unit having a plurality of housing sections in which the recording medium can be housed, the units being connected to one another so as to be able to change the position thereof; carrying means for carrying the recording medium between any one of the housing sections in the unit combination and the recording and reproducing means; and control means for controlling the recording and reproducing means and the carrying means and performing various information processing related to the working of the whole apparatus.
The recording medium library apparatus of the invention can be constructed so that the control means recognizes an apparatus composition including the kind of each unit constructing the unit combination and the connection between the units and outputs an image representing the recognized apparatus composition. In this case, display means capable of displaying information may be further provided and the control means may output an image representing the apparatus composition to the display means and allow the display means to selectively display the image in a plurality of display manners. The display manners can include display manners whereby the size of the images of the units varies. The display manners may include display manners whereby an image of the logical composition of the units is displayed and display manners whereby an image of the physical composition of the units is displayed. The display manners whereby an image of the physical composition of the units is displayed may include display manners whereby the unit arrangement direction varies.
The recording medium library apparatus of the invention can be constructed so that the control means further recognizes the status of each of the recording and reproducing means, the housing sections and the carrying means, and outputs at least a part of information on the recognized status together with the image representing the apparatus composition. In this case, display means capable of displaying information may be further provided and the control means may output the image representing the apparatus composition to the display means and allow the display means to selectively display at least either the image or the status in a plurality of display manners.
The recording medium library apparatus of the invention can be also constructed so that the control means further recognizes the status of each of the recording and reproducing means, the housing sections and the carrying means and, in response to a designation of a position in the image representing the apparatus composition, outputs detailed information on the status related to the designated position.
The recording medium library apparatus of the invention can be also constructed so that the units forming the unit combination comprises: a basic console having an input/output port for importing a removable recording medium to the inside or exporting the recording medium to the outside; a housing console having a plurality of rack openings for housing the recording medium; a drive console having at least one recording and reproducing means capable of performing at least either recording or reproduction of information by using a recording medium; and a junction console having a transfer port for transferring the recording medium from a first direction to a second direction. The carrying means can be constructed so as to selectively carry the recording medium imported via the input/output port among the rack openings, the recording and reproducing means and the transfer port. The control means can be constructed so as to control the carrying means, recognize the apparatus composition including the kind of the basic console, housing console, drive console and junction console and the connection between the consoles, and output an image representing the apparatus composition. In this case, display means capable of displaying information may be further provided and the control means may output the image to the display means and allow the display means to selectively display the image in a plurality of display manners. The control means may further recognize the status of each of the consoles and, in response to a designation of a position in the image, output detailed information on the status of the designated console to the display means, and allow the display means to display the detailed information on the status of the console together with the image.
The recording medium library apparatus of the invention can be also constructed so that the control means collects a plurality of items of management information classified according to functions of the recording medium library apparatus itself or components and puts the collected management information together into information in a form which can be integrally outputted. In this case, the control means may obtain log of the recording medium library apparatus itself and attach the management information put together into information in a form which can be integrally outputted to the log obtained.
A method of operating a recording medium library apparatus of the invention comprising: a unit combination constituted by combining a plurality of kinds of units including a unit having recording and reproducing means for performing at least either recording or reproduction of information by using a removable recording medium and a unit having a plurality of housing sections in which the recording medium can be housed, the units being connected to one another so as to be able to change the position thereof, and carrying means for carrying the recording medium between any one of the housing sections and the recording and reproducing means in the unit combination, the method comprises: a control step of controlling the recording and reproducing means and the carrying means; and an information processing step of performing various information processing related to the working of the whole apparatus.
In the recording medium library apparatus and the method of operating the apparatus according to the invention, the apparatus composition including the kind of each device and the connection between the devices is recognized and an image representing the recognized composition is outputted by the control means.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear more fully from the following description.